Editor’s note: This commentary is by Richard Davis, of Guilford, who is a columnist for the Brattleboro Reformer, where this piece was previously published.
[O]ne of the core principles of politics is compromise. People with differing ideas come together to craft legislation. In order to get anything done they must find common ground. But the principle of common ground and political compromise has been taken out of the playbook in Washington and that same deadly move has been adopted in Vermont.
Republican Gov. Phil Scott had the image of a consensus builder who could work both sides of the aisle before he became Vermont’s number one politician. He had a number of years of political experience as a senator and as lieutenant governor, so even some liberal types were feeling that he might be a governor everyone could work with.
But Scott has become a different political person since he has assumed the role of governor. He has thrown the word compromise out of his political lexicon and he has shown an unwillingness to negotiate. Scott also has been showing a near total disregard for the political process.
With only weeks left in this year’s legislative session, Scott introduced a proposal to have Vermont teachers negotiate their health care through a statewide process that would take this element out of their bargaining tool box at the local level. Scott claimed that if this move was made, it would save taxpayers about $26 million.
If it smells like a skunk, it must be a skunk and Scott’s proposal sure smells like a bad thing.
According to Sen. Tim Ashe, P/D-Chittenden, president pro tem of the Senate, “Senators knew the new teacher health plans created an opportunity for savings. So we operated with the understanding that local districts would negotiate to achieve those savings, and that, to use the director of the Vermont School Boards Association’s words from a February 15th Senate Committee meeting, ‘having the legislature intervene in the collective bargaining process at this stage could delay or derail progress being made at the bargaining table.’”
He went on to say, “When I learned of the (Scott) proposal on April 20th I thought the Administration was cueing it up for 2018 since our committees were shut down for the year. The more we looked at the proposal, despite the political rhetoric, the Governor’s late-game proposal didn’t guarantee a single penny in tax relief. But perception is reality sometimes in politics.”
As the proposal was looked into, it became clear that those kinds of savings could not be realized and that many school employees would be harmed. One analysis showed that a paraeducator with a child could end up paying an additional $2,250 a year in premiums and co-pays. School support staff who earn between $14 and $18 an hour could see their monthly premiums increase by $44 a month.
So what would Scott’s proposal really do? It would deal a blow to the collective bargaining process for teachers throughout Vermont. If it smells like a skunk, it must be a skunk and Scott’s proposal sure smells like a bad thing. It is union busting pure and simple.
Some legislators that I spoke to believe that Scott is taking his tactics from the Republican playbooks of Trump and Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin. Walker looks at collective bargaining as an entitlement that hurts taxpayers. Scott is surely not acting alone and some believe his team is up to no good, showing disrespect for a time-honored tradition of civil politics in Vermont.
Why would a governor who is a political veteran introduce a major change to the political landscape when the Legislature does not have the ability to use all of its energy to understand and research such a proposal? Scott’s action have disrupted the political process in Vermont and it sure looks like he is playing to the voters who don’t understand the finer points of Vermont politics by promising a tax cut that has no basis in fiscal or political reality.
But politics is about perception and Scott may earn points from some voters. Those of us who know what is really happening have an obligation to pull the curtain away from the Wizard of Oz and unmask the wizard.
